JACKSONVILLE, Florida (Ticker) -- Terrell Owens made a
courageous return, but it was the New England Patriots who
flapped their arms in celebration as they soared into history.

Tom Brady engineered three second-half scoring drives and Adam
Vinatieri added a short field goal to lead the Patriots to a
24-21 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX.

The Patriots (17-2) became only the second team to win three
Super Bowl titles in four years. The Dallas Cowboys were the
last team to achieve that from 1992-95.

"Where that leaves us historically, I'll let you guys decide,"
said Patriots coach Bill Belichick, who joined Bill Walsh and
Joe Gibbs as three-time Super Bowl-winning coaches. "What this
means is that in 2004, the New England Patriots were the best
team in the NFL."

New England's previous two Super Bowl victories over St. Louis
in February 2002 and Carolina last year were decided by field
goals by Vinatieri in the final seconds. Vinatieri's leg again
was the difference, although his 22-yarder with 8:40 left was
not quite dramatic.

Deion Branch tied a Super Bowl record with 11 catches for 133
yards and earned MVP honors, becoming the first receiver to win
the award since Jerry Rice in Super Bowl XXIII. Last year,
Branch caught 10 passes for 143 yards in the Super Bowl win over
Carolina.

"Some of his best games have been Super Bowls," Brady said.
"He's a very dynamic player. He can do it all. He was getting
open and doing some great things out there."

The 5-9 receiver had six catches for 95 yards in the second
half, including four for 71 on a scoring drive to open the third
quarter.

"We picked it up (in the second half)," Branch said. "We went
inside (at halftime) and regrouped and figured out what we were
doing wrong and capitalized on a lot of things."

This was the first Super Bowl tied after three quarters. Corey
Dillon gave New England the lead for good with a two-yard
touchdown run 1:16 into the fourth quarter.

Donovan McNabb, who threw for 357 yards, fired a 30-yard
touchdown pass to Greg Lewis to pull the Eagles within 24-21
with 1:48 left.

With two timeouts left, Eagles coach Andy Reid decided to try an
onside kick that Christian Fauria easily recovered. The Eagles
forced a three-and-out, but a punt pinned them at their 4.

McNabb had just 46 seconds to work with and wasted most of that
with a one-yard pass over the middle to running back Brian
Westbrook. His last pass was picked off by safety Rodney
Harrison, who celebrated his second interception of the game by
mimicking Owens' touchdown celebration - a flapping of the arms
like an eagle's wings.

A five-time Pro Bowl receiver, Owens played just 6 1/2 weeks
after undergoing ankle surgery and had nine catches for 122
yards. However, he was kept out of the end zone.

"Before we came down here I knew I was going to play all along,"
Owens said. "Nobody gave me a chance to play. But like I told
a lot of people, in this situation other people like Brett
Favre, they would have called him a warrior. For me, they said
I was selfish. If I'm selfish, I'm selfish because I want to
help my team win."

Brady completed 23-of-33 passes for 236 yards and two TDs. Some
early sloppiness prevented him from collecting his third MVP
award but he did pick up a third ring and his ninth consecutive
postseason win tied a record set by Green Bay's Bart Starr.

Pats linebacker Mike Vrabel made a juggling two-yard touchdown
catch after lining up as a tight end with 11:04 left in the
third quarter and also imitated Owens' celebration. He also
caught a TD pass in last year's Super Bowl win.

"I can't believe in two Super Bowls, two touchdown catches,"
Vrabel said. "On that play, Jevon (defensive end Jevon Kearse)
was really getting all over me and I was lucky enough to tip it
up and hang on to it when I hit the ground."

McNabb tied for the third-most passing yards in Super Bowl
history and threw for three touchdowns but was picked off three
times.

"Three interceptions, I don't look at the touchdowns," McNabb
said. "As the quarterback, you want to make sure you take care
of the ball. Turnovers kill you and they hurt us today."

In the Super Bowl for the first time since 1981, the Eagles
(15-4) were looking for their first NFL championship since 1960.

Philadelphia committed two costly turnovers in a scoreless first
quarter. McNabb had a pass intercepted by Harrison at the New
England 4 and tight end L.J. Smith fumbled after catching an
eight-yard pass and safety Eugene Wilson recovered for the
Patriots at the New England 38.

Smith opened the scoring with a six-yard touchdown catch with
9:55 left in the second quarter.

The Patriots squandered a scoring opportunity when Brady fumbled
and defensive tackle Darwin Walker recovered for the Eagles at
the Philadelphia 13 with 5:28 left in the second quarter.

But Brady made up for it on the Patriots' next possession,
hitting David Givens with a four-yard touchdown pass with 1:10
left in the second quarter, tying the game at 7-7. Brady flapped
his arms like Owens as well.

On the first possession of the second half, Brady clicked with
Branch, who caught passes of eight, 27, 15 and 21 yards before
Vrabel's touchdown gave the Patriots a 14-7 lead with 11:04 left
in the third quarter.

McNabb responded, hitting Westbrook with a 10-yard scoring pass
with 3:35 left in the third quarter, tying the game at 14-14.
McNabb completed 7-of-8 passes for 53 yards to highlight the
74-yard drive.

The Patriots then bridged the third and fourth quarter with a
nine-play, 66-yard drive. Third-down back Kevin Faulk caught
two passes for 25 yards and rushed two times for 20 yards before
Dillon's go-ahead touchdown.

Branch caught a 19-yard pass to highlight the 43-yard drive that
set up Vinatieri's field goal.